Cherry picker is used in ram-raid

Thieves used a cherry picker to ram-raid a bank in an incident which has left the front of the building destroyed.

The front of the HSBC bank, in High Street, Thrapston, was raided by thieves at about 3am on Monday morning.

A stolen cherry picker, taken from a nearby premises in Lowick, was used to ram the front of the shop.

The offenders then stole a cash machine on the outside wall and made their escape in another vehicle.

Northamptonshire Police have said they do not know how much money was taken yet.

The bank was cordoned off and closed yesterday.

An HSBC spokesman said: “Our customers are our priority and we hope to be back up and running as soon as possible.

“At this stage it’s a police matter with an investigation ongoing.”

Police admitted it is too early to link this incident with other ram-raids on banks in Oundle and Rothwell which took place last year.

A police spokesman said: “The offenders – one described as a man wearing a balaclava and carrying a baseball bat – stole the cash machine from the outside wall and made off in another vehicle, believed to be a blue Vauxhall Astra.

“Another vehicle, a Mitsubishi Shogun, is also thought to be involved in this crime. These vehicles left, in the direction of Islip and Denford.”

Sandra Naylor, co-owner of the Garden Room, in High Street, Thrapston, said: “It’s just very sad. We don’t want that kind of thing to happen here and I can’t remember anything like this happening.